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Andromache at Hector's
tomb — Andromache was married to Hector, the eldest
son of King Priam of Troy; they had two sons. Towards the end of the Trojan
Wars, Hector was killed by Achilles who dragged Hector's body round the
walls of Troy three times. Andromache's grief on the death of her husband
was the subject of many dramas.
After the Greeks captured Troy, they ransacked the city and murdered all their remaining enemies. Andromache and her surviving son were two of the unfortunate victims, for she was taken captive by Neoptolemus — the son of Achilles — while the baby Astyanax was thrown from the towers of Troy. Andromache survived the horrors of the Trojan war, and as the concubine of Neoptolemus, she bore the Greek hero three sons — Molossus, Pielus, and Pergamus. After the death of Neoptolemus, Andromache married the Trojan seer Helenus. |
Detail of Andromache mourning Hector: Jacques — Louis David, 1783. |
Last modified 17 March 2002